How's Your Year Been? (2018)

Go to page

Well-Known Member

I've become somewhat of a traditionalist, in that there's now some things I'll do every year, because that's what I do. Apologies re the Xmas Tree Gag, for those who endure it, but it makes me happy! So here goes:

f***ing smashed it. Excuse the language, but I'm not really sure I can convey the sentiment without it. I'm sharing the joy, not gloating, but there's been some hard times and they aren't over, but right now, we're scoring A+ at Buckley Towers.

Autism is still the theme, my 5 year old has that challenge, but we're doing well.

Highs:

Tommy's continued demon skiing
Tommy's playing footy at Arsenal
Tommy's first game at Arsenal, a 4-2 North London Derby win
Billy's continued development - as an advocate for his brother he's going to be the best.
Billy's passing his interview (at 3!) for his new school from next yar
Bought a new house in September - never been so happy with a home
Got married in November. The missus has made me. Much before marriage to be fair, but nice to wrap up

Lesser highs:

Jan - started work with new client, more money, closer to home, less stress, shorter hours. Charity ball for mate's 2 year old niece. Took a great table of people and had a great time. Woke up £3500 light after charity auction. See below*

Feb - mate's wedding in Edinburgh

March - Eurodisney with the family

April- Grand National Weekend in Liverpool for mate's stag

May - Centre Parcs with the family. Who knew?

June - Mate's stag at York races

July - Ibiza! Time with great pal, who I should see more of. Great to catch up with @stivi too

August - Wedding of two amazing friends

August/September - family hols to Tenerife, including actual downtime!

September - European 35+ cup Footy in Portugal. Great weekend - paid for it after. Moved into new house - it's a dream and what my family deserve.

October - Snip done and dusted. High? That it passed without event, bizarre experience
though! Took 24 mates to Michael McIntyre gig for charity*

November - Got married (not lesser but worth a second shout)

December - got 40 mates plus kids coming to us for our soon to be annual festive gathering, then family Xmas dinner on Xmas Day. Can't wait.

Lows:

I wish my Dad didn't have Parkinsons
I wish my boy didn't have autism
Trump
Poverty
Brexit
November breakages - dislocated and broke a finger and broke a toe

But it's been a pretty awesome year. Hope it's the same for all Spotlighters, but if not, there's always light. Head up and battle on!

Well-Known Member

I've become somewhat of a traditionalist, in that there's now some things I'll do every year, because that's what I do. Apologies re the Xmas Tree Gag, for those who endure it, but it makes me happy! So here goes:

f***ing smashed it. Excuse the language, but I'm not really sure I can convey the sentiment without it. I'm sharing the joy, not gloating, but there's been some hard times and they aren't over, but right now, we're scoring A+ at Buckley Towers.

Autism is still the theme, my 5 year old has that challenge, but we're doing well.

Highs:

Tommy's continued demon skiing
Tommy's playing footy at Arsenal
Tommy's first game at Arsenal, a 4-2 North London Derby win
Billy's continued development - as an advocate for his brother he's going to be the best.
Billy's passing his interview (at 3!) for his new school from next yar
Bought a new house in September - never been so happy with a home
Got married in November. The missus has made me. Much before marriage to be fair, but nice to wrap up

Lesser highs:

Jan - started work with new client, more money, closer to home, less stress, shorter hours. Charity ball for mate's 2 year old niece. Took a great table of people and had a great time. Woke up £3500 light after charity auction. See below*

Feb - mate's wedding in Edinburgh

March - Eurodisney with the family

April- Grand National Weekend in Liverpool for mate's stag

May - Centre Parcs with the family. Who knew?

June - Mate's stag at York races

July - Ibiza! Time with great pal, who I should see more of. Great to catch up with @stivi too

August - Wedding of two amazing friends

August/September - family hols to Tenerife, including actual downtime!

September - European 35+ cup Footy in Portugal. Great weekend - paid for it after. Moved into new house - it's a dream and what my family deserve.

October - Snip done and dusted. High? That it passed without event, bizarre experience
though! Took 24 mates to Michael McIntyre gig for charity*

November - Got married (not lesser but worth a second shout)

December - got 40 mates plus kids coming to us for our soon to be annual festive gathering, then family Xmas dinner on Xmas Day. Can't wait.

Lows:

I wish my Dad didn't have Parkinsons
I wish my boy didn't have autism
Trump
Poverty
Brexit
November breakages - dislocated and broke a finger and broke a toe

But it's been a pretty awesome year. Hope it's the same for all Spotlighters, but if not, there's always light. Head up and battle on!

Active Member

I’m heading back to God’s country on the 14th December for my first xmas and NY at home for years! Kids and family time. They’ll probably have my head done in after one week at home lol

Last year I spent both in deepest darkest Africa. Great laugh. Not.

Highlight was witnessing one of my mates struck down with a horrid virus, after spending months talking up how strong his immune system was. This saw him bedded down in a UN hospital for a week and went through no less than 26 IV drips.

Still, he said he wanted to loose a bit of weight and trim down while we were out there, so I suppose every cloud and all that.

Best wishes, see you all on the White Isle 2019 (dates to be confirmed lol)

Well-Known Member

Not the best year of my life.
In January my cat died suddenly. As a couple without kids, our cats are like our family.
My wife has suffered a lot, and personally I still have nightmares about this terrible day(he died in my arms, violently).
We are still missing him terribly.
Missing you, Guapo..

In February I had a strong work accident, I broke my elbow, but the hospital made an error, they didn't see the fracture
So, my bone didn't recover correctly and now it hurts me, I am not anymore able to carry heavy weight... The consequences are terrible: I lost my job in October after 9 months at home.
Fired for physical incapacity.
The good point was I had more time for ibiza and spent 6 weeks on the island between April and July.
But now I have to find a new job, I will never be anymore lorry driver
Also had family problems...
I am also very worried about the political situation in France.
What happened last week is not just another strike, our speciality.
People are suffering since too many years, the anger is really intense, and I think the chaos is just at the next street corner... Scary
The good side of the year :
In April we reformed entirely our bathroom in ibiza, it nice to see we are not working for nothing
Our holidays in June - July were amazing, once again ibiza welcomed us perfectly(see my review) .
And for the best, à few days ago my mother in law said she will help us massively in the next months.
This money is destined for a future probable move to ibiza.
First months of 2020 should be nice ..

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Not the best year of my life.
In January my cat died suddenly. As a couple without kids, our cats are like our family.
My wife has suffered a lot, and personally I still have nightmares about this terrible day(he died in my arms, violently).
We are still missing him terribly.View attachment 6086
Missing you, Guapo..

In February I had a strong work accident, I broke my elbow, but the hospital made an error, they didn't see the fracture
So, my bone didn't recover correctly and now it hurts me, I am not anymore able to carry heavy weight... The consequences are terrible: I lost my job in October after 9 months at home.
Fired for physical incapacity.
The good point was I had more time for ibiza and spent 6 weeks on the island between April and July.
But now I have to find a new job, I will never be anymore lorry driver
Also had family problems...
I am also very worried about the political situation in France.
What happened last week is not just another strike, our speciality.
People are suffering since too many years, the anger is really intense, and I think the chaos is just at the next street corner... Scary
The good side of the year :
In April we reformed entirely our bathroom in ibiza, it nice to see we are not working for nothing
Our holidays in June - July were amazing, once again ibiza welcomed us perfectly(see my review) .
And for the best, à few days ago my mother in law said she will help us massively in the next months.
This money is destined for a future probable move to ibiza.
First months of 2020 should be nice ..

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Ahh no @jimmiz - sorry to hear about them missing your injury, I can understand how frustrating this is after having something similar happen with my foot fracture!

It sounds like everyone has had some great highs and really rubbish lows. At least Ibiza always manages to make us smile

For me, the highs have been good times with friends and family, at home and abroad (my September trip to Ibiza was quite possibly the best ever!).

Lows - losing a work friend to cancer in October I guess being laid up for pretty much most of November and heading towards Christmas with my foot has been rubbish - but there is light at the end of the tunnel and I can lose the boot in a couple of weeks, just in time for Christmas day! Had to cancel Gatecrasher just after as it may be biting off more than I can chew so soon after, but I'm sure there'll be plenty more events to throw myself into next year

Well-Known Member

Active Member

The breakdown (and mainly highs):
January - Start the year right with a trip to the Maldives
February/March - Enjoyed the incredible weather with visitors and friends
April - Mine and Matt's birthday month. A lovely staycation in Abu Dhabi for our all time favourite brunch with our best friends.
May - Wedding fever truly hits and we begin our time in Ibiza. SO GOOD to be back.
June - Got married at Pikes!'Nuff said!
July - Travelled alone to Bali. Amazing experience, loved every second. Also - new temp job for the rest of the year!
August - The Ark Cruise. Got to pop back to Maga 5 years after working there, a quick day in Ibiza and a wicked weekend on the boat!
September - Back to reality. A solid month of lots of work and not much play
October - Got our beautiful puppy and my sisters visited for the eldest's 30th! Loved showing them where I live.
November - The good weather returns! Days out, more visitors and brunches in the sun
December - Dubai Rugby 7's and looking forward to seeing family in the UK for Christmas (not looking forward to single digit temperatures though!!)

The lows:

Found out the type of people/company NOT to work for in the first half of the year

Serious wedding blues for a month or two afterwards

Seeing my older sister and brother in law go through some tough times and living half way around the world and not being able to help.

Active Member

We lost my wife's mum after her battle to cancer in Feb & have 2 friends diagnosed this year...
Have a wee pug who is now 11 but needs full-time care, he was diagnosed 2 years ago with nerve degeneration. He's in no pain but is limited with certain things.

Moving home in August so we can be closer to my wife's dad & nearer Glasgow
I started a new position @ work which involves a lot of travelling to my sites in the EMEA region...

Numerous good gigs, like the stones, Kasabian etc

Hitting Ibiza 4 times this year
first in April to get a short break & clear the head
Clockwork in July which reminded me of why I came to Ibiza in the first place.
September which was really a non-event, weather wasn't too great, PDB is seedy & sh*t.. Luciano canned his dates due to an injury
October - 40th birthday celebration, stayed in the Ibiza gran - great hotel, bit corporate but catered for our needs

2019 dates are planned for July, then oct as its a whole year of celebrating my 40th

Active Member

This year is quite not done yet, so the superstitious part of me is hesitant to call it 'game-set-match' yet. In any case, so far so good, overall… Unlike the previous year, there were no natural disasters to contend with, and I was able to enjoy Ibiza again after a six-year absence. The 1st real family holiday was a success, and I look forward to much more time spent back in the future. The wife, boys and I are in in good health, so I call 2019 a “win”.

The only personal low was accepting that my father is likely suffering from a specific type of early (57) dementia, likely related to his days of playing American football. Full diagnosis at Mayo clinic will be next year sometime. Like Buckley’s Parkinson’s ordeal, you wonder “why”, but I do realize that we have led a fairly blessed life apart from that until now. Hope springs eternal with treatments and supplements.

I wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season and prosperous 2019. Really looking forward to the upcoming May 2019 trip!

Moderator

@Buckley Always enjoy this thread, mate. It's good to reflect as this interval in time comes to an end. Looks like you had an eventful one!

Sorry to hear about your troubles, @jimmiz but looks like brighter days on the horizon

I started thinking about 2018 a couple of days ago and decided that it's been by far one of the best years of my life. Definitely in the top 5!
I actually had tears of joy in my eyes when I watched that automatically-generated Facebook year-in-review video this morning. Yep, I've officially gone soft.

- The World Cup - Definitely one of the best months I've ever had. I've been to 2 World Cups before but nothing like being able to take the metro home and sleep in your own bed! Moscow was buzzing. Amazing atmosphere. I went to all 12 of the games here, including the opening and final. I drank more Bud than I ever care to see again. Loads of great times with friends and visitors alike. And some pretty darn good football.

- The birth, 7 weeks ago, of the lovely Miss Emilia Clara aka "Emma" (or "The Banshee" ) after a smooth and uneventful pregnancy & delivery for the missus.

Honestly, everything else in between is a blur. These three things eclipse everything else.

Only dark spots would be:
- the death of my uncle (mom's brother), but even then I'm so happy I saw him at Christmas last year for the first time in about 20 years.
- a little bored with work but that always comes and goes in waves.
- the politics - Trump, Brexit, Russia/Ukraine/sanctions, etc.
But none of them have really spoiled the parade

So, in short, I am the luckiest man alive. Life is good.

PS. I have also made peace with only being able to go out one night a week